ICE officers to patrol Super Bowl over Bad Bunny halftime show?
The NFL thought it was just announcing a halftime show. But the moment Bad Bunny was revealed as the 2026 Super Bowl performer, conservative outrage exploded. And that says more about America than it does about music.
Let’s be real — Bad Bunny isn’t just another pop star. Born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, he’s a Puerto Rican artist who refuses to assimilate to what power structures demand. He sings in Spanish, critiques the Trump administration, defies gender roles, and openly advocates for immigrant communities — all while dominating the global charts. In less than a decade, he’s become one of the biggest superstars in the world, rivaling Taylor Swift, Drake and The Weeknd.
The difference? He does it in a language America too often tries to silence.
And silence is exactly what Trumpworld wants. Since they can’t cancel his performance outright, they’re threatening to weaponize ICE. Corey Lewandowski, an adviser at the Department of Homeland Security, recently said on “The Benny Show”: “There is nowhere that you can provide safe haven to people in this country illegally. Not the Super Bowl and nowhere else”
He went on to say: “We will find you. We will apprehend you. We will put you in a detention facility, and we will deport you.”
Think about that. A Super Bowl halftime show — meant to unite millions — is being turned into a staging ground for fear.
This isn’t the first time Bad Bunny has worried about ICE targeting his fans. Earlier this year, he told i-D Magazine that he skipped touring the continental U.S. out of concern that Latinos could be vulnerable to raids. That’s not paranoia, it’s reality. Trump’s rhetoric has emboldened people to complain when someone speaks Spanish in public, to sling anti-immigrant slurs, to treat whole communities as a threat.
We’ve seen this before. After Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico in 2017, the U.S. response was slow and dismissive. A conservative comedian even called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.” Bad Bunny didn’t clap back with insults. Instead, he posted a stunning tribute to the island — its beauty, its people, its dignity. That’s how he fights back: with love, with pride, with art.
So when critics call him “anti-ICE” or say he “hates America,” what they really mean is that he refuses to shrink himself or his culture to make them comfortable. He’s proud of his heritage, and he carries it onto the biggest stages in the world.
Bad Bunny himself put it best when he announced the Super Bowl news: “What I'm feeling goes beyond myself. It's for those who came before me and ran countless yards so I could come in and score a touchdown. This is for my people, my culture, and our history.”
And that’s the point. This halftime show isn’t just about entertainment. It’s a declaration. It’s a love letter to Puerto Rico, to Latinos across the Americas, and to Latinos born right here in the United States — because you are American. It’s a reminder that you belong here, that you deserve to thrive without being constantly questioned, attacked or criminalized simply because of the way you look or the language you speak.
And yet, the reality is brutal: last month, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority cleared the way for ICE to profile millions of Spanish speakers in Los Angeles, lifting a restraining order that had barred federal agents from stopping people solely because of their race, their language, their job, or even just where they live. So when Bad Bunny steps onto that Super Bowl stage, it won’t just be music — it will be resistance in real time. A performance in the face of policies and prejudice designed to erase Latino identity. And it will also be proof that despite these relentless attacks, millions of Americans are standing beside you, fighting on the right side of history, refusing to let fear define who gets to belong.
As podcast host Jannese Torres put it, “Bad Bunny’s career can be summarized by one line: “Success does not require you to make yourself palatable to people with no tastebuds.”
Lindsey Granger is a News Nation contributor and co-host of The Hill’s commentary show “Rising.” This column is an edited transcription of her on-air commentary.